Taylor Sheridan’s New ‘Yellowstone’ Spin-Off Debuts With One of the Lowest Rotten Tomatoes Scores of His Career

Kayce Dutton may have left the Yellowstone Ranch behind, but he hasn’t exactly traded in his boots. The cowboy-turned-Navy SEAL-turned-lawman is back in the saddle — only this time, he’s wearing a U.S. Marshal’s badge. Earlier this week, as part of Collider’s Exclusive Spring Preview, we debuted a first-look sneak peek at Marshals, the upcoming sequel spin-off to Yellowstone starring Luke Grimes. The footage wastes no time establishing the central tension of the series: Kayce’s old-school, horseback instincts colliding with the structured world of federal law enforcement. But while the premise is strong and the Western DNA is intact, early reviews suggest the show hasn’t fully convinced critics following Taylor Sheridan‘s departure from Paramount.

Currently sitting at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes based on early reviews, Marshals has received mixed critical reception — a noticeable shift for a franchise that has typically thrived on fan enthusiasm and cultural dominance. Currently, only 5 reviews for the highly anticipated spin-off have been posted on the review aggregator, so the score is expected to change in the coming days. The official logline reads:

“With the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Kayce Dutton joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence.”

Is ‘Marshals’ Worth Watching?

Collider’s positive review stated that Marshals wisely refuses to be Yellowstone 2.0, instead carving out a more procedural, network-friendly identity that gives Kayce Dutton room to grow — even if the transition comes with a few growing pains. Collider’s Michael John Petty did note drawbacks to the network shift. Dialogue can feel repetitive, exposition-heavy, and occasionally blunt — especially early on. The tighter 42-minute runtime leaves less breathing room than Sheridan’s cable storytelling allowed. Still, the action remains present, and the tone suits Kayce’s more mission-oriented arc.

“Ultimately, Marshals is described as a series with strong potential. It may lack the prestige-TV swagger of its predecessor, but its procedural focus gives Kayce a clearer path forward. Marshals is a neo-Western that is chock-full of potential. It’s action-packed, thrilling, and full of everything you could ask for in a Kayce Dutton-led series that fights hard to divorce itself from the Currently sitting at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes“Y” that still lingers in the background. It’s not perfect, nor does it claim to be, but once it gets through the initial growing pains, it will be able to stand firmly on its own. The chemistry between Grimes and Marshall-Green is exactly what the bond between two ex-SEALs should be, and it’s not hard to like the rest of the Marshals cast as well, especially as we begin to learn more about them.”

Marshals premieres on CBS on March 1 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.